Michael Lewis Slams Banker On Facebook Who He Says Is Spreading A Rumor About Him

Today Michael Lewis released his new book, "Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt." It's about a group of guys from the Royal Bank of Canada who figured out that high-frequency traders are manipulating the stock market, so they decided to start their own HFT-agnostic exchange called IEX.

Apparently this has prompted someone to start telling tales about Lewis' relationship with IEX, according to Lewis' Facebook page:

As many you saw last night on 60 minutes or are hearing about today, there is a "new" exchange IEX to combat High Frequency Trading. IEX is being sponsored and pushed by buy-side firms as they are the main investors and believe in the story. Michael Lewis also has a stake in IEX, which was not disclosed in the story. IEX is currently "transitioning" from a dark pool to a lit exchange. So where does BNP stand with connectivity to IEX?

It was no secret that a lot of banks, stock exchanges and trading firms weren't going to like this book, but starting rumors is pretty low.

We've reached out to Nunziata and to BNP Paribas for comment. BNP sent us this statement:

"Earlier today an email was sent by John Nunziata, internally within BNP Paribas, which was factually erroneous and contained incorrect information regarding Michael Lewis. The statements did not and do not represent the views or understanding of BNP Paribas. BNPP and its staff have no reason to believe that Mr. Lewis has any financial or proprietary interest or other stake in IEX, and any statement to the contrary was a mistake and is retracted in its entirety."

IEX is marketing itself as the place where your pension funds and retirement funds are protected. Check out one of their marketing videos below. It's called 'Opportunity Now' and is full-on mom-and-pop, apple pie Americana.